TGt Meets...Kelly Marsden, HR Director of The HR Team South Coast LTD - IWD Special

International Women’s Day 2021 #choosetochallenge

Kelly Marsden, HR Director of The HR Team South Coast Ltd, based in Branksome Park, Poole. The HR Team provide professional, friendly HR support and advice to SME’s across Dorset. Read below as we spoke to Kelly to get her thoughts on International Women's Day 2021.

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #choosetochallenge – what would you choose to challenge when it comes to gender equality or inequality this year?

Greater flexible working opportunities for women returning to the workplace after having children. There are so many fantastic women out there who have valuable knowledge and skills to contribute to businesses, but are missing out due to the need to balance their work and family lives.

Thinking of your own experience in the world of business – which inequalities, if any, have you experienced personally or witnessed around gender?

Unfortunately, I experienced an unsupportive environment when returning to my role after having my first child. My little boy was only 7 months old and I was still breastfeeding. I was not offered a suitable private place to express milk and even caught colleagues laughing about what I was doing. I ended up having to use the disabled toilets to get some privacy, with nowhere to sit except the toilet. At the time I just got on with it, but I look back now and think this was unacceptable and I should have spoken up about how this made me feel – embarrassed and the need to hide.

What do you think women offer in particular to the world of business?

Men are often told to think like a woman and women are told to act like a man. Yet actually, both men and women bring different yet equally important qualities to the workplace. Aside from knowledge and skills in their particular field, women can typically offer empathy, intuition and an optimistic viewpoint. They often have high emotional intelligence and can help create healthy workplace relationships and a well-rounded workforce.

What do you think men offer in particular to the world of business?

Typically men are more linear in their thought processes and narrower in their focus so are able to break down problems and solve them quickly, whereas women tend to offer a more holistic approach; therefore a balance of both perspectives is needed for an organisation to truly thrive.

Can you name up to three women in business or in your organisation or in the wider business community that you admire?

1. Tracy Michael, my business partner. She is incredibly professional, an expert HR generalist and also down to earth and fun! The relationships she builds with those around her are genuine and I couldn’t ask for a more kind and caring business partner!

2. My own mum. She used to be a hairdresser and owned her own salon. Then at 40 she decided to retrain, went to university and qualified in HR. She went on to build a very successful HR consultancy and is definitely the reason I decided to go into HR myself!

Do you think women who start their own business experience more challenges than men? Can you explain why you think this?

No I don’t think women who start their own business necessarily experience any more challenges than men. It depends on the sector they are in and the network of people they have around them as to how challenging a situation is for any men or women.

Now a little bit about being based in Poole and your Covid-19 experience…

Describe Poole in 3 words…

Sunny, welcoming, scenic

Where’s your favourite place for an out of office/remote meeting?

South Deep Café in Parkstone Marina – really lovely food by the water’s edge.

What do you most love about working in Poole?

Being only a few minutes away from our gorgeous beaches.

How do you think Poole and local businesses will bounce back once lockdown is eased?

We have fantastic NHS teams in Poole such as Shore Medical, rolling out the vaccination program and helping to keep the community safe and well. There has been brilliant support throughout lockdown from groups such as Better Together Dorset, who offer free online exercise classes and advice from fitness instructors and healthcare professionals.

Business networking groups such as Dorset Chamber, moved online very quickly and have remained a source of support and information for all its members. Once restrictions are eased, people will be out and about again, supporting local businesses, cafés, restaurants etc and hopefully it won’t take long before the summer is here and things start to feel a bit more normal again.

How has Covid-19/Lockdown affected your business and what are your plans for the year ahead as we start to move out of lockdown?

As HR consultants, we have been busy throughout the pandemic, supporting business owners and managers as we all navigated our way through furlough and for some through the inevitable process of redundancy and restructure. Within our own business Tracy and I are parents and, like many other working parents, we have both faced the demands of juggling home schooling with working from home! Luckily, we were both already set up for remote working and were still able to hold client meetings very effectively via remote technology. In actual fact, lockdown proved that we can run our business very effectively online and we have since taken on several new clients from different parts of the country, broadening our client base demographic.

Anything else you’d like to say?

I am really proud to be a business owner in Poole and can honestly say I absolutely love what I do! The HR Team is now 3 years old and we have never looked back. Tracy and I continue to build a fantastic client base and regularly receive genuinely wonderful feedback for the professional yet friendly HR advice and support we provide. Personally, I feel blessed to be surrounded by supportive friends, family and fellow business owners, who inspire and encourage me every day.

For further information about The HR Team please visit their webiste: www.thehrteam.co.uk